Medical students must understand and visualize the internal structures in the human body. X-rays and CAT scan pictures have proven a helpful tool, but it is sometimes difficult for medical students to correlate 2-dimensional black and white prints with the 3-dimensional human body. As medical teaching aides, human cadavers have been preserved by freezing, cutting into cross-sectional slices, and encasing each slice individually in a clear plastic resin. These encased cross-sectional cadaver slices have been proven invaluable in aiding the medical students to visualize the structures of the human body. These cadaver slices have also been used as base line to any abnormalities in the gross anatomy cadaver encountered in traditional dissection.
Each of the encased anatomy slices weigh approximately between twenty and thirty pounds. A complete body cadaver typically includes approximately 53 slices. It may be seen that it is a difficult task to manually handle and maneuver the weighty and bulky anatomy slices in such a manner as to provide optimal vantage viewing points of the entire cadaver as well as individual cross-sectional slices. If an individual slice is cracked or shattered, an entire cadaver would have to be replaced at considerable cost. Because of the fear of damaging the slices, the anatomy slices are typically not used effectively. In most institutions, the anatomy slices are displayed laying flat under protective glass enclosures, or kept out of reach and view of medical students altogether.